Tavares scored just his second goal in 11 games to tie the game late in the third before Engvall put the game away.
Tavares scored just his second goal in 11 games to tie the game late in the third before Engvall put the game away.
Pierre Engvall might've been welcomed back by his former team, but he was also the one who sent the Maple Leafs to the dressing room with a loss.
There was a lot on the line for both the Maple Leafs and the Islanders. A game like this following the All-Star break can help dictate the future of where each team might go.
Engvall had a video tribute by Toronto in his first game back inside Scotiabank Arena since being traded to New York back nearly one year ago. The 27-year-old towering forward received the tribute during the first TV timeout, but it appears he missed it as Islanders head coach Patrick Roy was drawing up plays.
Engvall, if you can recall, was one of Toronto's top penalty killers while in the organization. And it was safe to say they could've used him on Monday evening.
With two of the Maple Leafs' most important penalty killers in David Kampf and Calle Jarnkrok out of the lineup with injuries, Toronto was forced to rely on a few other players.
And they were challenged early on.
However, the combinations of William Nylander, Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, Noah Gregor, and Pontus Holmberg contributed with two massive kills in the first and second periods.
Coming off All-Star weekend, the big question was how Morgan Rielly, Marner, Matthews, and Nylander would perform after a busy few days. Those questions were answered, but not before another All-Star, Mathew Barzal, could have a say.
He hops on the loose puck after it bounces off the post and scores to put the Islanders up 1-0 midway through the first period.
Toronto would return the favor in the second period, but not before Simon Benoit and Bo Horvat fought. Benoit went to throw a hit on Barzal and missed. Horvat didn't like it and the two dropped the gloves with the Islanders' forward getting an extra two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Horvat's extra penalty put both teams at four skaters, and that's when the Maple Leafs capitalized.
Tavares draws two Islanders in and then finds Marner, who scores the game-tying goal, which is also his 21st goal of the season.
Marner, in his last 13 games, is up to seven goals and nine assists for 16 points. Tavares, with an assist on the 26-year-old's goal, has just his second point in the last 11 games.
The stalemate between the two teams, though, wouldn't last very long.
Kyle MacLean, who was serving Horvat's extra two minutes, jumped out of the box as the penalty expired and beat Ilya Samsonov on the breakaway for his first NHL goal, putting the Islanders up 2-1 over Toronto.
Toronto might've been down by a goal after two periods, but their play would tell a different story. According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the Maple Leafs had a 65.37 xGF% while the Islanders had a 34.63 xGF% at five-on-five.
But after a power play late in the third period, Toronto, again, would tie the game.
Rielly's shot is tipped in front from Tavares, who adds another point to his total on the night.
That's Tavares' 14th goal of the year, and it's safe to say it's a pretty big one against his former team.
But just over two minutes later, it's Engvall who gets on the board to send his former team to the dressing room with yet another loss against the Islanders.
Rielly gives it up and a shot eventually bounces off Samsonov and right onto the stick of Engvall, who makes no mistake, putting New York up 3-2 to win their first game post-All-Star break.
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